FIRSTWINDYCITYSUMMITKICKSOFF AT NOON; JOIN US AFTERWARDSFORCOCKTAILS

After that we invite any readers (even if you don’t have a ticket to the sold-out Summit) to join us for cocktails from 6:00pm to 7:30pm at Truffles on the Blue Level (second-level) of the Hyatt Regency’s West Tower.

12:05 – 12:35 — Panel: Online Tools That Drive Offline Listening
How are stations are using social media, mobile apps, video and even streaming to build their broadcast audience. Hear from experts on what works, what doesn’t.

12:45 – 1:15 — Panel: Mobile Streaming – Making It Work
Some stations have more users listening on mobile devices than on computers. What do stations have to do in order to make finding and listening to their station easy and appealing to listeners? How is a mobile listener different? How are listening sessions different on mobile devices? What’s the formula for winning at the mobile streaming game?

1:20 – 1:50 — Panel: Sizing Up Your Audience
There are several ways to measure a streaming online audience — as an online medium or as radio? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each method? Should there be uniformity in measurement metrics? What method will drive the most revenue into the marketplace? We’ll hear experts from several measurement companies debate these topics and more.

2:20 – 2:50 — Panel: How to Advertise to Mobile Listeners
Listening on mobile devices means a different set of assets for the advertiser. In order to engage a mobile listener the message needs to be different. What are the best tools for boosting responses to mobile audio ads? Who is running an audio ad campaign that is doing this well?

3:20 – 3:50 — Panel: Digital Face-OffSponsored by Triton Digital. “Does Radio Creative Still Leave the Light On?” Triton Digital’s Patrick Reynolds will host a frank discussion with some of the industry’s most celebrated radio creatives on where radio is quality-wise, why, and how it can become a creative showcase opportunity once more with the addition of digital extensions afforded by IP-based delivery.

4:30 – 5:00 — Panel: Give Listeners What They Want
Programming features such as on demand streaming, skipping, time shifting and ad free listening options can be a meaningful ways for stations to expand their audience and brand. Hear from content providers and the platforms and tools they are using.

5:35 – 5:50 — Presentation of RAIN Internet Radio AwardsRAIN will announce the winners of the second-annual RAIN Internet Radio Awards.

5:50 – 5:55 — Closing Remarks

6:00 – 7:30 — Cocktail PartySponsored by Radio-Info. Join us immediately after the Summit’s conclusion for cocktails and appetizers, to be held at Truffles on the Blue Level (second level) of the Hyatt Regency’s West Tower.

The panelists of the Digital Face-off panel: Shane Colton (freelance radio writer and producer), Bob Merlotti (Creative Lead at Digitas) and Bob Monachino (Radio Creative Director, Writer & Radio Producer at Radio Bob Resort). The panel is sponsored by Triton Digital and will be moderated by Patrick Reynolds, Executive Vice President of Marketing at Triton Digital.

They’ll join more than 30 other panelists and speakers, including Pandora founder Tim Westergren and Slacker CEOJim Cady. You can find the full agenda for tomorrow’s RAIN Summit Chicago here.

The Summit is sold-out, but even if you don’t have a ticket you’re invited to join us for our RAIN Reader Cocktail Party. It takes place 6-7:30pm at Truffles on the Blue Level (second-level) of the Hyatt Regency (West Tower).

NEWCUSTOMIZABLE iHEARTRADIO LANDS IN iPHONE APPSTORE

Clear Channel has updated its iHeartRadio iPhone app to include the new Pandora-like custom radio features. The new beta update launched last week (RAIN coverage here).

An update for iHeartRadio on Android devices is coming “in the near future,” said Clear Channel.

The app includes most of the new features found on the new iHeartRadio website: thumbs-up and -down ratings, a dial to request more familiar or unfamiliar music and Clear Channel’s hundreds of AM/FM streams.

TRITONDIGITALLAUNCHESNEWSOCIAL, MOBILERADIOSERVICES

Triton Digital has launched a number of new ehancements and services “aimed at expanding radio stations’ abilities to capture audiences across social media and mobile devices.”

Following the trend we’ve seen in years past, most webcasters were flat or down month-to-month in July 2011, according to Triton Digital’s newly-released Webcast Metrics. However, the combined audience of the Top 20-ranked webcasters was up 19% over last year (Domestic Mon-Sun 6a-12m daypart) — and may even have been higher if not for errors affecting the data from Pandora and ESPN Radio.

July is historically a light month, due in part to the 4th of July and general summer vacation “doldrums.” This year was no different (and accordingly we should expect significant rebounds in August and September).

Pandora’s AAS (Average Active Sessions, which is essentially equivalent to AQH — i.e., average simultaneous listeners) was down 3% from June 2010 — though their numbers are affected by a tracking error in their mobile apps — while #2-ranked CBS Radio was down 11% and #3 Clear Channel dropped 10%.

ESPN Radio’s AAS was down 37% month-to-month, but Triton Digital notes that ESPN Radio’s “data collection for the month of July was impacted due to a change in service provider.”

The combinedAAS of the Top 20-ranked webcasters was up 19% over July 2010. Slacker’s AASgrew 113% year-over-year (though Ando Media did not start tracking Slacker’s mobile listening until November 2010).

Other strong year-over-year performances include Cumulus (97%), EMF (38%), AccuRadio (32%) and Pandora (31% — but, again, its July 2011 figures are lower than they might be due to a tracking error).

You can find the Domestic and All Streams Mon-Sun 6a-12m rankings below. Find out more from Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics report here (PDF) and find our coverage of June 2011’s ratings here.

PANDORALAUNCHESWORKOUTSTATIONS

Pandora has added twelve new workout-themed stations to its line-up of genre-based Internet radio channels. The new offerings include 80s Cardio, Classic Rock Power Workout, Yoga and Rap Strength Training.

Each station is “geared toward giving people energizing music to listen to while they’re exercising,” said Pandora VP of Corporate Communications Deborah Roth. You can find Pandora’s press release here.

JELLIBRINGSCHAT, OTHERUPGRADES TO iPHONE APP

Crowdsourcing radio service Jelli has upgraded its iPhone app to include a new chat feature, along with other improvements. In all, the company says the update helps the app “look more like Johnny Cash and feel more like a Little Red Corvette.” Radio Ink has more coverage here.

Slipstream Radio helps radio broadcasters extend their local brands online, building sophisticated, personalizable, multichannel radio stations that are hosted by the station's own air personalities and sponsored by the station's local advertisers. Visit SlipstreamRadio.com to learn more.

There have been a lot of references in the trade press recently to the anticipated U.S. debut of Spotify that call it an “online radio service.” I believe that’s a misnomer. Here’s my rationale:

For many decades now, consumers have listened to two forms of audio entertainment. To make the discussion easier, let’s focus on music. Basically, you can listen to the music you own, or you can listen to the radio.

In the former case — listening to the music you own — you’re in control. You can say, “I think I’ll listen to ‘Heartache Tonight’ by the Eagles right now” and then you can do so. Or you can grab a stack of LPs and shuffle them and stack them on the changer on your turntable. (Putting a random stack of LPs on the changer on your turntable is the 1970s equivalent of hitting “shuffle” in iTunes.)

In the latter case — listening to the radio — you typically have access to a wider library of music, but you give up some level of control. To be specific, someone else (or something else, such as a DJ or a radio station’s Selector or MusicMaster scheduling system or Pandora’s decision heuristics) is making the choices.

(To add a bit more color to this, I would further argue that if your roommate is picking the songs from his collection, you may have given up control and gotten some more variety, but that’s not “radio” either. There’s got to be some component of it being done from a distance, and for the enjoyment of multiple other people than the music programmer himself or herself.)

Pandora and other brands of Internet radio are modern versions of radio: An intelligence (i.e., some combination of people and computers) at a distance from you is creating programming for the enjoyment of numerous listeners.

Spotify and Rhapsody, on the other hand, are modern versions of your music collection: You have access to a large library of songs and you can listen to them on demand in the order you want to listen to them.

Yes, true, both Spotify and Rhapsody have a “radio” feature as part of their product offering. However, as far as we know, Rhapsody’s radio feature has never gotten a lot of consumer take-up. The fact Spotify and Rhapsody offer a radio component to their service doesn’t make them “an online radio service“ any more than the fact that McDonald’s has salads on the menu makes it “a salad restaurant.”

McDonald’s isn’t a “salad restaurant,” and Spotify isn’t a “radio service” — at least as I understand how consumers are primarily using those brands today. In Spotify’s case: “Music service,” yes. But “radio,” no.

[Want to debate this or help me fine-tune my definition of “radio”? Write me at feedback@kurthanson.com.]

AccuRadio is online radio programmed by music lovers but personalizable by you.

AccuRadio offers over 500 channels ranging across dozens of genres. Listeners can customize each channel, making AccuRadio a true blend of radio and personalization. Plus, AccuRadio offers a series of highly-rated mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Palm webOS devices.